Games by Genre

User Review

7.7

Doom 3 BFG Edition for the PC is a sequel to the popular game known as Doom 3, this game is a survival horror first-person shooter. The game was developed by iD Software and published by Bethesda Softworks.

When Doom 3 first came out, the game was controversial to say the least. That's not to say that anything about the content of the game was offensive or lewd, but everything about the third game in the Doom series was so completely different from the games that preceded it, from the dark environments to the forced story. Even people that liked Doom 3 at its core argued over things like the existence and use of the flashlight within the game. Now, iD has created an HD version for both consoles and PC called Doom 3 BFG, but does it actually change anything?

As with any HD re-release, lets start by talking about the original game. For the first time in the history of the series, Doom 3 tried to create a story, but without the use of dialogue. Instead, it tells its story through computers and PDAs that dead people have left behind, which you collect obsessively. The game also traded the wide open spaces of Doom 1 & 2 for extremely tight corridors. The speed of the action decreases dramatically and the game tried for something far more atmospheric than ever before.

The game tries to engineer this atmosphere with one very simple element, darkness. The entire game is full of flickering and failing lights, and the only light source you have reliable access to is your flashlight. Doom 3 even limits your access to this single light source by keeping you from using a gun at the same time as the flashlight.

Doom 3 BFG rips out this piece of the original game's atmosphere, incorporating one of the most popular mode for the original game on PC and allowing the flashlight to be used whenever you want. Even worse than simply incorporating the famous Duck Tape Mod, the game does not give you a choice to return to how the original game was, which is a huge problem. One of the most important things that HD re-releases can do is preserve games beyond their original lifespan, and making fundamental modifications to the original release is a betrayal of that spirit.

Beyond this basic mechanical change, some of the visuals have changed as well, surprisingly enough for the worst. Textures in Doom 3 BFG actually look noticeably worse than the textures in the original game, and it has eliminated the shadow tech that made the original version of Doom 3 look so incredible.

If you have some sort of urge to play Doom 3 on PC again, this is not the version to play. Somehow iD has managed to make this new version of the game worse in just about every aspect to the version that they released in 2004. The original version gives you more choice thanks to all of the time that fans have had to make mods for it, and while you can make that version of the game practically any way that you want, Doom 3 BFG doesn't let you make any changes whatsoever.

8.0

Shoot! What Went Wrong? The first time I got to play the first of the LEGO Indiana Jones, I was struck dumb. I mean, who would have ever thought that LEGO could be translated into a computer game and using the fantastic character that is Indiana Jones? Definitely the developers knew what they were doing and I am proud to be a fan. So imagine my malcontent when I got to play the second one, The Adventure Continues.

The very least that I can comment is that this is much of the older version, identical in fact. So, the character wanders in, smashes things left and right, collect some studs for rewards, whip some things into shape and all that. In the older version, it was important to get that whip just right to make it latch on to the target. In this version, even an idiot could manage a whip, as long as they know how to stay on the button a while longer and wait it out a bit.

The gameplay is by and large not very interesting at all. I got the feeling that there were waves of enemies to increase the length of play, if the enemies were not around, the whole game falls apart, literally.

Now, about the plot, this is basically just the same old plot but this time it focuses on the fourth film, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull with bits and pieces of the three previous films thrown in to add more content. The effect is not so nice, it feels like a mash-up and not of the good kind. It skips, it lacks fluidity and it just does not compel in any way. And then there are the add ins. These, I found really strange for they definitely were never within any of the Indy plots that I can recall. Don't get me started with the bonus segments, I plead the Fifth here.

Another thing that really bothers me is the seemingly lack of direction for the gamer. In the past games, the player was directed somewhere to complete a quest, here there are no maps and no arrows. This results to the player getting lost, which I suspect was really meant to extend the number of hours spend playing this thing. I felt that I lost a lot of hours doing nonsense for I really did get lost.

The only different thing here is the level creator. These involve props and stuff but somehow the structures do not look good enough. Somehow, the new things that were supposed to make this thing successful did not work and it is pretty obvious that the formula is getting a tad too old for comfort that it becomes boring, for lack of a better term. For those who fell in love with the first Lego Indiana Jones, I would recommend to stick with it and save your time and money on this newer version. It is just a pointless game and it turned ridiculous in the end.

8.6

Tons of content, tons of interesting real-time strategy games and tons of destruction. Fans of Stormregions S.W.I.N.E. totally enjoyed the pseudo WWII battles with the combatants played by pigs and rabbits.

The same company has released Codename: Panzers and yes, it is still based on WWII and it is still a real-time strategy game, but this time the combatants are humans and this time, it is more of a real WWII game rather than the false one.

The game is much improved as well, there are more features, more enhancements, more content, more campaigns, and more of everything. Thankfully the result is not a mash up that rots, but is an excellent and exciting game that keeps the gamers on their toes from start to finish.

Codename: Panzers has three single player campaigns that are set in three different time lines of WWII. There is the German campaign, the Russian Campaign and then there is the Allied Campaign. Each with their own specific highlights like the German invasion on several countries, the Russians defeating the Germans and D-Day for the Allies. The gamer plays different commanders from each campaign who is tasked to keep things together.

For every mission, the specific commander begins writing something in his journal and although this journal writing will have nothing much to do with the gameplay or the strategies involved, still, it gives that commander a humanity that makes him well rounded, virtually.

There are 30 single-player missions each different from the other. The good news is, in other games this can become repetitive but not in Panzers. The gamer is constantly on the move and the environments change. There are some missions that have numerous objectives and then there are some that will have a secondary one. Each is different from the other and writing about each will take more than a thousand words before I am halfway through.

As the commander, the gamer gets limited in every way but at the same time they get the most out of those under the command. There are different vehicles with their specific dos and donts and then there are the ammunition supply that can run out, all the way to deploying one unit from the other and make them work together. It is a pretty exhausting thing to be a commander and yet it is kind of exhilarating.

Presentation wise, Codename: Panzers is excellent. There are minor hiccups here and there but that is normal for PC gaming, otherwise the gamer can get totally engrossed in the planning and reaction as well as defence. Think of it as being a real commander and everything that is involved, down to the digging of the pits. The music helps as well; it keeps the action going and in rough times can be emotional.

Ultimately, this is an excellent game no matter what angle you look at it from. This is one of the most well thought-out real-time strategy games that I have encountered and it is a lengthy one. For the gamer who likes to dig deep into the roots of a game, this is definitely a must.

6.5

Part 1 has you playing as Nite Owl and as Rorschach, two characters from the movie. In this game, youll punch, kick, and generally raise havoc through the numerous enemies in the game. In the second part of the game, youll have to use the skills that you gained in the first version, since the game assumes that you already played all the way through Part 1. There is a tutorial mode, but the moment you start playing the second storyline, the enemies will be on you like they were at the end of the first one.

One of the greatest things about this game is the way that the combat is done. Enemies will come at you, sometimes with weapons, sometimes not. Youll have to engage them in hand-to-hand combat, either singularly or in groups, and overcome them. That cant just be done by button mashing, players will actually have to have some idea of the moves available to them and how they are executed, if they want to survive. Actually pulling off a bunch of combos, counters, and area-attacks and taking out a whole group of baddies is immensely satisfying, since you are directly giving your character exactly the moves that they are performing.

It isnt required that you be on your best game all the time, which is a good thing too. There are a lot of times individual enemies come up, and youll just have to smash through them. These enemies are different in the second game, to reflect the different storyline, but they generally fight and act like the enemies from the first game.

Between both games, there are a lot of different chapters to overcome. The first game has a lot more than the second, which gives you plenty of time to get your different move set figured out and the timings on your skills down. Once you beat the second game, there is an mode that can be unlocked, allowing even further play.

One thing about the game is that there is not an online element. If you want to play this game with friends, there is a two-player cooperative mode, but thats the only multiplayer offering available. Another issue is that over time, the gameplay does get repetitive. There just isnt a lot of variety in the different ways that you have to smash through your opponents, and they dont evolve much in the second game.

If youre a fan of the movie, then Watchman: The End is Nigh Parts 1 and 2 will give you the chance to step into the boots of two characters from it. If you already have the first game, though, the second doesnt offer a lot in the way of expanded gameplay. If you dont own either yet, buying both together is a slightly cheaper way to beat up bad guys in the Watchman universe.

7.0

PS3 has brought us what is clearly meant to be an experiment for Move. Wonderbook: Book of Spells for PS3 looked great when it was presented at E3. It was something new, learning spells as they game off of the page. The problem came about when the actual game started to show through. The biggest flaw seen is the lack of an over-arching plot holding all of this together. Its not really enough of a "book" to hold the story together the way that anyone who is excited to be back in the world of Harry Potter wanted it to be.

The game itself takes place in augmented reality. Your living room becomes a seat inside of Hogwarts and you're going to sit down and learn spells like any student wants to. The way the book is presented it casts itself as required reading for the students and the rich world that J.K Rowling made for all of us is only presented in a lackluster way at best. The game, for the most part, follows its own formula, exactly. Without any deviation you're going to be learning four or five spells per chapter and that's it. You'll get a little introduction to the spell and then your goal is to master the incantation and the flick of the wand you'll need to perform this feat of magic.

In actuality, the spoken word part of each spell is well, awkward. You have to literally scream at the PlayStation Eye and for as exacting as the movement portion of the spell is the words don't really seem to matter. You can say whatever it is that you want and the mic will probably accept it. Shooting water from the tip of your wand with whatever made-up doggerel you decided only stays fun for so long.

As a game, it simply fails to deliver. The build up is intense. As you're learning all of this magic, blasting imps and Dementers with all of the tricks you're picking up you'd really think there would be some point to all of it. Perhaps this new student is going on an adventure of his or her own when all of this is said and done. No, to put it simply, no. The learning process is all of the whole of this game. Once you've picked up all of the spells and mastered all of the tests the game is over.

Mastering all of the spells and learning all of these things takes at most about two hours. It feels more like an extended tutorial than an actual game and the feeling left by the end is one of disappointment. The concept had a lot of potential but the actual product of that concept came up feeling hollow. With such a rich source material to draw from there's not really a good reason why the game did nothing but teach spells and have a half-hearted plot on rails.

PS3 has brought us what is clearly meant to be an experiment for Move. Wonderbook: Book of Spells for PS3 looked great when it was presented at E3. It was something new, learning spells as they game off of the page. The problem came about when the actual game started to show through. The biggest flaw seen is the lack of an over-arching plot holding all of this together. Its not really enough of a "book" to hold the story together the way that anyone who is excited to be back in the world of Harry Potter wanted it to be.

The game itself takes place in augmented reality. Your living room becomes a seat inside of Hogwarts and you're going to sit down and learn spells like any student wants to. The way the book is presented it casts itself as required reading for the students and the rich world that J.K Rowling made for all of us is only presented in a lackluster way at best. The game, for the most part, follows its own formula, exactly. Without any deviation you're going to be learning four or five spells per chapter and that's it. You'll get a little introduction to the spell and then your goal is to master the incantation and the flick of the wand you'll need to perform this feat of magic.

In actuality, the spoken word part of each spell is well, awkward. You have to literally scream at the PlayStation Eye and for as exacting as the movement portion of the spell is the words don't really seem to matter. You can say whatever it is that you want and the mic will probably accept it. Shooting water from the tip of your wand with whatever made-up doggerel you decided only stays fun for so long.

As a game, it simply fails to deliver. The build up is intense. As you're learning all of this magic, blasting imps and Dementers with all of the tricks you're picking up you'd really think there would be some point to all of it. Perhaps this new student is going on an adventure of his or her own when all of this is said and done. No, to put it simply, no. The learning process is all of the whole of this game. Once you've picked up all of the spells and mastered all of the tests the game is over.

Mastering all of the spells and learning all of these things takes at most about two hours. It feels more like an extended tutorial than an actual game and the feeling left by the end is one of disappointment. The concept had a lot of potential but the actual product of that concept came up feeling hollow. With such a rich source material to draw from there's not really a good reason why the game did nothing but teach spells and have a half-hearted plot on rails.

8.3

With Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, Activision has finally managed to combine the toys kids love to play with in the real world and the video games they love to play with in the virtual world. When you buy a copy of the starter kit, you'll receive not only the disc containing the game, but everything you need to actually play the game, including a "portal of power", which connects to your PS3 via USB to allow the toys to communicate directly with the game console, and by proxy the game itself. The game also comes with three of the base toys.

This is where Activision's business strategy becomes a bit devious. In order to unlock characters that are not represented by the three toys that come with the game, you have to buy the toys separately. In fact, to own all of the available toys, which include 32 of the characters and a number of extra stages and power-ups, you will have to put down hundreds of dollars. The whole thing seems a bit exploitative to me, but that is a decision for you to make.

Enough about the business model, though. Let's talk about how the game you end up playing with all the fancy technology plays. The gameplay works very much like a traditional Action RPG like Diablo. That said, unlike Diablo, there are only a few skills per character instead of huge lists to scroll through. Granted, this watered down type of gameplay is more or less what you would expect from a kid's game, and there's certainly no real problem with the combat.

The most impressive thing about Skylanders, and the thing your kids will probably love the most, is the portability of the toys. All of the characters progress, stats, and gear are saved on the toy itself, and compatible with any other version of the game. So even though you have Skylanders for the PS3, you can take one of your toys to a friend's house and place it on an Xbox 360 or Wii and use it there as well, bringing back your new found stats and gear when you return to your game.

I'll be honest, when I first picked up Skylanders, I fully expected it to be yet another dull kid's game, but there is something about Skylanders that makes it rather new and different, and I think it's the portal. There is just something incredible about placing a Skylander down onto the portal and watching the base of the toy light up, then being able to swap it out with any other toy whenever I want. Of course, if I found in incredible, kids will probably find it amazing as well, and the most we can ever ask for in a kid's game. That said, I still feel like the way the business model is set up is specifically built to extort money from kids and their parents, and Im extremely uncomfortable with that, but it is still a great game.

8.0

Call of Duty Modern Warfare on the Wii is great because with this port you get almost everything that the Xbox360, PS3, and PC got. The single player campaign is identical, and similar multiplayer, the difference being you can only do 5v5 matches. Because this is on the Wii, the graphics and performance suffer a hit because of the old hardware running on the Wii. The game will often times drop to a pretty low fps, and there are plenty of online lag issues that come with the Wii online play.

The story in Call of Duty Modern Warfare wraps up the other previous installments of the Modern Warfare series. Although the story is very confusing, and at times quite difficult to follow, if you try really hard you can keep up with the story. The main story is a setup to the incredibly awesome battlegrounds and firefights you will take place in, all around the world. In the single player campaign, You get to assume the identities of a host of characters, each changing views and perspectives throughout the continuation of the story mode. You are also accompanied by teams of fellow soldiers, who can not be controlled.

Putting the story aside, there are many and many awesome spectacles to be had in Call of Duty Modern Warfare for the Wii. The game will take you to many global hotspots, such as London, Paris, and New York City, where full out wars and battles are being fought. On the other systems, the hardware is able to display these huge and awesome spectacles with ease, but on the Wii, the graphics and performance suffer quite a lot. Playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare on the Wii really takes a bit out of the beauty of these crazy fights.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare for the Wii also has a great multiplayer mode. It has alot of rich, and very refined features from the Xbox360 and PS3 versions. It comes with the same systems of unlockables, along with all the awesome game modes you have come to know and love, and the same leveling system on the other platforms. It also features an the ability to voice chat online if you have a headset. With multiplayer, hardware affects your gameplay again, and the online play is drought with constant system lag. A lot of players have developed a "lag shooting" technique where they aim ahead of the player, but this makes online play a hassle and very frustrating to get used to.

The Wii version also features the Spec Op mode, but it is so ridden with lag that is not playable.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare is a great game to pick up and play, but not on the Wii. If you have any other systems, pick up MW3 for them, because you will be disappointed by the Wii's performance. But if you only have a Wii and are looking for a good first person shooter, go ahead and pick this title up.

6.5

Part 1 has you playing as Nite Owl and as Rorschach, two characters from the movie. In this game, youÂ’ll punch, kick, and generally raise havoc through the numerous enemies in the game. In the second part of the game, youÂ’ll have to use the skills that you gained in the first version, since the game assumes that you already played all the way through Part 1. There is a tutorial mode, but the moment you start playing the second storyline, the enemies will be on you like they were at the end of the first one.

One of the greatest things about this game is the way that the combat is done. Enemies will come at you, sometimes with weapons, sometimes not. YouÂ’ll have to engage them in hand-to-hand combat, either singularly or in groups, and overcome them. That canÂ’t just be done by button mashing, players will actually have to have some idea of the moves available to them and how they are executed, if they want to survive. Actually pulling off a bunch of combos, counters, and area-attacks and taking out a whole group of baddies is immensely satisfying, since you are directly giving your character exactly the moves that they are performing.

It isnÂ’t required that you be on your best game all the time, which is a good thing too. There are a lot of times individual enemies come up, and youÂ’ll just have to smash through them. These enemies are different in the second game, to reflect the different storyline, but they generally fight and act like the enemies from the first game.

Between both games, there are a lot of different chapters to overcome. The first game has a lot more than the second, which gives you plenty of time to get your different move set figured out and the timings on your skills down. Once you beat the second game, there is an mode that can be unlocked, allowing even further play.

One thing about the game is that there is not an online element. If you want to play this game with friends, there is a two-player cooperative mode, but thatÂ’s the only multiplayer offering available. Another issue is that over time, the gameplay does get repetitive. There just isnÂ’t a lot of variety in the different ways that you have to smash through your opponents, and they donÂ’t evolve much in the second game.

If youÂ’re a fan of the movie, then Watchman: The End is Nigh Parts 1 and 2 will give you the chance to step into the boots of two characters from it. If you already have the first game, though, the second doesnÂ’t offer a lot in the way of expanded gameplay. If you donÂ’t own either yet, buying both together is a slightly cheaper way to beat up bad guys in the Watchman universe.

8.5

Sleeping Dogs for the Xbox 360 was originally going to be called True Crime Hong Kong but later the publishing rights were obtained after Activision abandoned this title and the game was renamed Sleeping Dogs. Those of you who have played other titles such as GTA, or the Saints Row series, will feel at ease with this new title, mainly as a lot of elements have been adopted from that type of game.

The game is free roaming which allows the player to explore in much more detail than other games which tend to have a set model in which you run from room to room. In this game you free roam as you would in the other titles mentioned above. The attention to detail in this game has really been elevated, close ups and characters which you fight and engage with seem very realistic unlike previous games which portray a similar style of play.

As you enter this vast open world of Sleeping Dogs you have the option of walking on foot, obtaining a car, jumping on a motorcycle, or perhaps obtaining a boat. The missions undertaken are also vast and unique. The story itself revolves around Triads as you go undercover to infiltrate Triad gangs and you will have to do various missions for the Triads in order to obtain what is known as Triad XP, which is basically the equivalent of trust after each mission is completed. Or perhaps you may take a different role and go for Police XP.

The characters are many and varied, and each has unique traits, and the locations which you visit are just as varied and interesting. The combat controls are pretty simple and straightforward and the game is very easy to pick up. All in all this type of game is highly addictive due to the nature of the subject and anything to do with underworld gangs such as the Mafia or the Triads is always going to be appealing as it tends to be something which is unpleasant but is out of our everyday experience. The same way as Modern Warfare is appealing even though it approaches the subject of war.

There are some missions which do get boring but this is to be expected when adding many missions to a game, and unlike Saints Row the Third the makers did not adopt the lets go crazy approach with unrealistic elements, which I think is a bonus.

So this is moving towards being in a league with GTA and the early Saints Row before the craziness started, and this makes for an authentic, brutal, free roaming action game, which has very few flaws and makes for a great gaming experience. I would give Sleeping Dogs a rating of around 8.5 as I feel it makes a great addition to the popular titles which have also been mentioned in this review.